Mahmood Elahi's reply

While visiting Delhi, I was impressed and shocked at the same time. Signs of India's booming economy is everywhere. Affluent middle classes seem to be enjoying good times with posh restaurants and shopping malls full with smartly dressed people. But just outside those urban palaces, the ordinary Indians are living in such abject poverty that defies description. The people's conditions have actually worsened since I visited Delhi years before. Both Delhi's roads and streets are crumbling although the traffic has grown enormously. Most streetlights are not functioning and Delhi's traffic police seem to be always on leave.

In the city of Agra, home to the world famous Taj Mahal, roads are in such bad shape that going to Taj is a trying experience. Most roads seem not to have seen any repairs since the British left. When I asked my Indian tour guide why roads in a city like Agra, which is visited by millions of tourists from around the world, are in such a pitiable condition, he told me that the government has no money for roads and highways because of widespread tax evasion and corruption. However, Agra's public squalor is matched by private splendour. Agra has many first class hotels and one Amar Vilas can be compared with the best in the world. This magnificent hotel is placed in a water garden with marble statues and fountains resembling Taj Mahal next-door. It is also extremely expensive with cheapest rooms costing $400 (US) per night and most expensive suites costing $4000 (US). I could only afford a brief tour of this palace, which I would recommend to anyone who can afford it. But beyond its marbled structure, people are living in abject poverty without minimum civic facilities.

Agra's crumbling infrastructure and lack of basic public amenities make these posh hotels completely out of place. I preferred to walk in these potholed roads. I must say I was surprised to see Dhaka's roads are in a much better shape than those of Delhi and Agra. However, I must admit that the Shatabdi Express, which I took to travel to Agra, impressed me. The train was fast and the service was excellent. Also, the expressway from Agra to Delhi is a good one and can be compared with good roads in advanced countries. But roads and streets inside both Delhi and Agra are in such bad shape that most tourists are disappointed by modern India while the majestic monuments like Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Agra Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Kutub Minar, Itimadad Duola, Fatehpur Sikri, Shahdara etc evoke much admiration. Why can't modern India build good roads at a time when it is booming? Also India's rural poverty seems to have not seen any improvement, and a few miles outside Delhi people are living in such misery that they seem to be living in another country.